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About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (May 15, 2017)
U.S.A. May 15, 2017 THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 7 Taiwan-born Navy officer admits lying, mishandling secrets By Ben Finley The Associated Press ORFOLK, Va. — The U.S. Navy abandoned efforts to convict a Taiwan-born Navy officer of spying for China or Taiwan, striking a plea deal instead that portrays him as arrogant and willing to reveal military secrets to impress women. The agreement was a marked retreat from last year’s accusations that Lt. Cmdr. Edward C. Lin gave or attempted to give classified information to representatives of a foreign government. But it still appears to end the impressive military career of a man who came to America at age 14. Lin joined the staff of an assistant secretary of the Navy in Washington and later was assigned to a unit in Hawai‘i that flies spy planes. Lin, 40, now faces dismissal from the Navy and up to 36 years in prison at his sentencing, scheduled for early June. During the daylong court-martial in Norfolk, Lin admitted that he failed to disclose friendships with people in Taiwan’s military and connected to its government. He also conceded that he shared defense information with women he said he was trying to impress. N One of them is Janice Chen, an American registered in the U.S. as a foreign agent of Taiwan’s government, specifically the country’s Democratic Progressive Party. Lin said he and Chen often discussed news articles she e-mailed him about military affairs. He admitted that he shared classified information about the Navy’s Pacific Fleet. Moon’s turbulent life before winning presidency Continued from page 5 born in January 1953. They initially lived in a POW camp. As a boy, he often went to a Catholic church with a bucket to get free U.S. corn flour and milk powder. College After entering Seoul’s Kyung Hee University in 1972, Moon joined a pro-democracy movement to topple the dictatorship of Park Chung-hee, who ruled South Korea for 18 years until his 1979 assassination. Park is the father of recently ousted conservative President Park Geun-hye. In 1975, Moon was jailed for months for staging anti-government protests before being conscripted into the military’s special forces. Human-rights lawyer Moon became a lawyer and joined Roh’s law office in the early 1980s. They defended the rights of poor laborers and student activists until Roh entered politics in 1988. Moon says their friendship changed his life. ‘King secretary’ After Roh became president in 2003, Moon became what local media called Roh’s “King secretary” or “Roh Moo-hyun’s shadow.” When Roh was impeached in 2004 over alleged election law violations, Moon served as a defense lawyer before a court restored Roh’s presidential power. After Roh left office and faced a corruption investigation, Moon was his lawyer. Roh jumped to his death in May 2009. Presidential challenge Moon says Roh’s death led him to politics. Moon lost the 2012 election to Park Geun-hye by a million votes. When a corruption scandal involving Park flared last fall, Moon saw his popularity rise amid massive public outrage toward her conservative government. Climbing Mount Tai: 6,000 steps up China’s sacred mountain He also divulged secrets to a woman named “Katherine Wu,” whom he believed worked as a contractor for Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She actually was an undercover FBI agent. “I was trying to let her know that the military profession in the United States is an honorable and noble one,” Lin told Cmdr. Robert Monahan, the military judge. Lin said the military is less FREE HOME REPAIRS FOR PORTLAND SENIOR & DISABLED HOMEOWNERS TALKING STORY IN ASIAN AMERICA Plumbing Electrical Carpentry Call (503) 501-5719 or visit https://reachcdc.org Portland Housing Bureau Interpretation services available Continued from page 2 In the morning, we got up at four o’clock to position ourselves for the sunrise, apparently peak time on the mountain. From Jade Emperor Peak, sitting among hundreds of others, many in rented green army overcoats to keep warm against the strong wind, we were fortunate enough to see a clear sunrise, majestically bathing the mountain peaks in light. After a breakfast of soybean milk and fried dough sticks, we hiked for about five hours down the mountain and through Tao Hua Yu, or Peach Blossom Valley, a beautiful walk through pine trees, flowering peach trees, waterfalls, and pools of water, not unlike a landscape you might expect to find in central Europe. Despite the many people, our weekend trip to Taishan was a relaxing and energizing experience. The greenery up the mountain made for a picturesque climb, and the second-day valley hike was to me the highlight, and not just because there were no steps up. It was serene, allowing me to enjoy the landscape and contemplate the greater vision I had gleaned from the top of Mount Tai. POOR JUDGEMENT. Lt. Cmdr. Edward C. Lin, a native of Taiwan, speaks in this December 3, 2008 file photo. The U.S. Navy has abandoned efforts to convict Lin of spying for China or Taiwan, striking a plea deal instead that portrays him as arrogant and willing to reveal military secrets to impress women. (Sarah Murphy/U.S. Navy via AP, File) prestigious in Taiwan. Lin also had friends with other connections, including a woman living in China whom he met online, and a Chinese massage therapist who moved to Hawai‘i . Lin said he gave the massage therapist a “large sum of money” at one point, although he didn’t say why. Lin also admitted to lying to superiors about flying to Taiwan and planning to visit China. But he said he did it only to avoid the bureaucracy that a U.S. military official must endure when travelling to a foreign country. “Sir, I was arrogant,” he told the judge. A Navy press release about Lin’s attendance at his naturalization ceremony in Hawai‘i in December 2008 said he was 14 when he and his family left Taiwan. “I always dreamt about coming to America, the ‘promised land,”’ Lin was quoted as saying. “I grew up believing that all the roads in America lead to Disneyland.” n Polo Polo’s “Talking Story” column will return soon. SLOW INTERNET? GET EXEDE! STARTING AT 49 $ 99 MONTH Researchers seek better ways to farm popular Pacific fish By Phuong Le The Associated Press ORT ORCHARD, Wash. — Federal scientists at a research facility near Seattle are studying ways to make it easier and more efficient to commercially grow a fish prized for its buttery flavor. The project to grow sablefish is part of a larger effort by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to support marine aquaculture to feed growing demand worldwide for seafood. The sablefish is also known as black cod or butter fish. It is a fin fish native to the northeast Pacific Ocean. It’s highly valued in Asia for its delicate flavor. U.S. west coast fishermen, mostly in Alaska, catch millions of pounds of wild P sablefish each year. Some see a potential opportunity to farm the sablefish. Researchers with NOAA are developing new techniques to make farming the fish more viable. The Asian Reporter is published on the first & third Monday each month. CALL TODAY! 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